"Honor already did it!" I yelled as he ran past me and flew out the back door. "And don't let the door—"
I braced myself as the door slammed against the frame, and then threw my hands up in the air.
"Can I set the table or something?" Adam chuckled as he shook his head. I nodded and pointed to the stack of plates and pile of silverware Verity had set on the table. I watched as Adam limped over and grabbed the silverware then turned and relit the stove.
It wasn't long before Verity returned from the barn. She acted as if nothing had happened, so I followed her lead and finished cutting up the fruit and putting everything on the table for breakfast. A short while later, Danny and Honor returned to the house. They silently washed their hands in the kitchen sink and then sat down at the table and waited for the rest of us.
Breakfast was eaten in silence. Halfway through it, a truck pulled into the drive. Danny and Honor were out of their chairs and through the back door before any of us could say a word. I looked at Verity and she shrugged, so I followed the other two outside to find a very confused FedEx driver asking for Adam.
"Adam, there's a package here for you!" I called through the screen door. A few minutes later, he emerged on the front porch waving to the delivery driver who quickly made it way up the steps and presented Adam with an electronic signature form.
"I didn't know the Amish had cell phones now," the driver commented as he waited for Adam to finish signing.
"They don't," he said handing the pad back to the driver with a smile that annoyed me. "I'm just a guest."
The driver looked confused, but nodded and quickly returned to his truck. He shook his head as he back down the drive, pulled back out on to the road, and drove away. I gave him a small wave, wishing I could hop on the truck and head back to the city with him. His reply was a short blast of his horn before he sped off toward town.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Adam
My new phone quickly became the focus of attention as I unwrapped it and began setting it up. Danny singed something that I couldn't understand.
"Danny wants to know where that came from and what it does," Verity translated.
"It's a cell phone, er, telephone," I said offering it to him for inspection. Danny took the phone in one hand and flipped it over examining every inch of the thin, flat device as he signed with his free hand.
"I don't know, Danny," Verity frowned. "Mr. Wallace, he wants to know if this is an eight, sixteen, or sixty-four. Do you know what that means?"
"It's a one-twenty-eight," I laughed as I patted Danny's shoulder. "How do you know about cell phone memory?"
"Like I've said before, we're Amish, but we're not backward," Grace said as entered from the front porch.
"Grace!" Verity gasped. "There's no need to be so rude!"
"What? I'm sick of him assuming that we're some kind of uninformed group of backward country folk," Grace said gesturing toward me.
"Just because you're—" Verity began.
"Verity," Grace growled in a tone that silenced her sister immediately. Verity scowled at Grace then turned and walked back into the kitchen without saying anything else.
"What was that about?" I asked as I took the phone from Danny and pushed the power button. The screen flashed a picture of a battery with a thin line of red at one end. I sighed, "Oh great, it's out of juice."
"You can plug it in out in the kitchen and let it charge," Grace said. "There's an outlet with a 120 volt out by the refrigerator."
"How did you know that?" I asked looking up at her surprised that she knew what was needed. Next to me, Danny urgently signed something to which Grace simply shook her head. He quickly signed again, but she shook her head and clamped her lips shut. Danny sighed exasperatedly as he threw his hands up, then sat back up and signed something else.
"Don't you dare," Grace warned frowning at him. "That's not yours."
"The phone?" I asked. "Does he want the phone?"
"No," Grace said staring pointedly at her brother. "He does not want the phone."
Danny glared at his sister as he crossed his arms over his chest. Confused, I looked back and forth between them trying to figure out what was going on, but Grace said nothing. I took the phone and cord out to the kitchen and plugged it all in, leaving the phone on top of the refrigerator. Verity was at the sink washing dishes and avoided looking at me as I hooked everything up.
"Verity, I know something's going on," I said quietly. "Is anyone going to tell me anything?"
"It's not my story to tell," she said as she tossed a handful of silverware into the rinse water before adding, "Ask Grace."